Tibetan Buddhists find home in heart of the Bible Belt

c. 2007 Religion News Service ATLANTA _ Snuggled between the 1950s bungalows and the towering custom homes of Atlanta’s Dresden Drive, the new structure with yellow turrets, a gilded roofline and tall tapering windows is a source of curiosity to neighbors. The Dalai Lama has just added another notch in the Bible Belt with the […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

ATLANTA _ Snuggled between the 1950s bungalows and the towering custom homes of Atlanta’s Dresden Drive, the new structure with yellow turrets, a gilded roofline and tall tapering windows is a source of curiosity to neighbors.

The Dalai Lama has just added another notch in the Bible Belt with the dedication of the new Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc., the U.S. branch of a renowned Tibetan Buddhist monastery-in-exile in Dharamsala, India.


Jerry Marcum, the monastery’s nearest neighbor, has watched the transformation of the building from a former church to a Buddhist monastery with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

“I don’t know much about this religion,” said Marcum, a 24-year resident of the Brookhaven neighborhood. “My concern would be: How often will they use the building? My main issue is disrespect of property or too many people. If they don’t bother me, that’s fine.”

Ever since the 15th century, each incarnation of the Dalai Lama has held a residence at Drepung Loseling, one of the most academically prestigious monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism.

The center’s spiritual director, Geshe Lobsang Negi, said Atlanta has proven a remarkably hospitable home for the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism _ even if he says he’s met with “absolute disbelief” when he tells people he’s headquartered in the Bible Belt.

“The South is such a rich area when it comes to spirituality, with such a strong focus on spirituality and an emphasis on peace,” he said, noting the influence of former President Jimmy Carter and the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Atlanta is an international city with so many people from so many parts of the world and religious backgrounds; our center is a little Tibet in the heart of Atlanta, and we can be part of that greater unfolding taking place here, of inter-religious understanding and harmony.”

Just how the monks ended up in Atlanta is a story in itself. Barbara Kroeplin, a practicing Buddhist of 30 years in North Carolina, grew enchanted with the monks during their Mystical Arts tour in 1989.


Kroeplin and her husband offered the monks a piece of land in north Georgia. “This is probably the last place you’d expect a Buddhist center,” she said, “(in) the middle of the Bible Belt.”

The monks accepted, and in 1990, the land was consecrated by the Abbot of Drepung Loseling, Rizong Rinpoche. The initial reaction was mixed.

“Up here in the mountains, there were some loud voices of dissent from right-wing Christian voices _ one or two people _ a few angry letters about the consecration ceremony,” Kroeplin said. “But that sparked a whole response of support with people saying: We have freedom in this country, it’s who we are and what we stand for, that anyone can worship freely. After that, there was no problem.”

The monks never built on the land _ about an hour and a half drive north of Atlanta _ though they still own it. Instead, Negi was offered a scholarship in a Ph.D. program at Emory University, which led him to Atlanta.

That relationship with Emory eventually grew into the Emory-Tibet partnership, formalized as a reciprocal academic program in 1998. During his recent visit here, the Dalai Lama accepted an Emory-designed crash course on Western science, and in return, will send his top-notch teachers to the Atlanta center.

Sixteen years of building ties with Emory and Atlanta led to the decision to build a U.S. branch of Drepung Loseling. The Tibetans purchased a former church in Brookhaven where, as they say around here, “old money lives and new money parties.”


The $2.8 million facility is not a monastery per se, but is designed in a traditional Tibetan style as a temple, cultural center, museum and educational center. The goal is to teach Westerners about Tibetan culture and to offer Buddhist spiritual practice and teachings.

“Having a base in the States, and in the South, is an opportunity for us to share our culture with those who may find some benefit from the sacred culture of compassion and wisdom,” Negi said. “Not in a Buddhist religious sense … but the basic values, which are universal to all religious traditions.”

The Dalai Lama, fresh from his Congressional Gold Medal ceremony and red-carpet reception in Washington, consecrated the site on Monday (Oct. 22) amid a small group of staff, monks and benefactors.

“The rituals, the ceremonies are all very good, very sincere,” he said. “But really, what’s important is the study. You have this center, but I don’t see any books!”

The Dalai Lama said he would donate the complete works of Buddha, and commentaries and other sacred texts _ more than 300 volumes in total. Before leaving Atlanta he promised, “The professor will return!”

Local reactions have ranged from surprise to curiosity to wait-and-see. The Rev. Laurie Moeller is pastor of Brookhaven United Methodist, located a mile from Dresden Drive. “I don’t know anything about it, which I’m embarrassed to say … and I’m an Emory grad.”


But after pausing, she added, “The world is changing, it’s so global. We need to understand our brothers and sisters and not pass judgment out of our own ignorance, which we do a lot of.”

Marcum, who lives nearby, said he’d still like to meet his new neighbors.

“Now, I’m from Tennessee, and when you’re out in your yard, people walk by and say `hello,”’ Marcum said. “Well, that hasn’t happened yet, not a word. But if they’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to them.”

KRE/RB END BUCCIARELLI900 words

Photos of the Dalai Lama at Emory are available via https://religionnews.com.

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